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  3. The uniqueness of the Japanese character is the result of two, seemingly contradictory forces: the strength of traditions and se

The uniqueness of the Japanese character is the result of two, seemingly contradictory forces: the strength of traditions and se

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问题    The uniqueness of the Japanese character is the result of two, seemingly contradictory forces: the strength of traditions and selective receptivity of foreign achievements and inventions. As early as the 1860s, there were counter movements to the traditional orientation. Yukichi Fukuzawa, the most eloquent spokesman of Japan’s "Enlightenment," claimed "The Confucian civilization of the East seems to me to lack two things possessed by Western civilization: science in the material sphere and a sense of independence in the spiritual sphere." Fukuzawa’s great influence is found in the free and individualistic philosophy of the Education Code of 1872, but he was not able to prevent the government from turning back to the canons of Confucian thought in the Imperial Rescript of 1890. Another interlude of relative liberalism followed World War I, when the democratic idealism of President Woodrow Wilson had an important impact on Japanese intellectuals and, especially, students; but more important was the Leninist ideology of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Again, in the early 1930s, nationalism and militarism became dominant, largely as a result of failing economic conditions.
   Following the end of World War U, substantial changes were undertaken in Japan to liberate the individual from authoritarian restraints. The new democratic value system was accepted by many teachers, students, intellectuals, and old liberals, but it was not immediately embraced by the society as a whole. Japanese traditions were dominated by group values, and notions of personal freedom and individual rights were unfamiliar.
   Today, democratic processes are clearly evident in the widespread participation of the Japanese people in social and political life and there is no universally accepted and stable value system. Values are constantly modified by strong infusions of Western ideas, both democratic and Marxist. School textbooks expound democratic principles, emphasizing equality over hierarchy and rationalism over tradition; but in practice these values are often misinterpreted and distorted, particularly by the youth who translate the individualistic and humanistic goals of democracy into egoistic and materialistic ones.
   Most Japanese people have consciously rejected Confucianism, but vestiges of the old order remain, an important feature of relationships in many institutions such as political parties, large corporations, and university faculties is the oyabun-kobun or parent-child relation. A party leader, supervisor, or professor, in return for loyalty, protects those subordinate to him and takes general responsibility for their interests throughout their entire lives, an obligation that sometimes even extends to arranging marriages. The corresponding loyalty of the individual to his patron reinforces his allegiance to the group to which they both belong. A willingness to cooperate with other members of the group and to support without qualification the interests of the group in all its external relations is still a widely respected virtue. The oyabun-kobun creates ladders of mobility which an individual can ascend, rising as far as abilities permit, so long as he maintains successful personal ties with a superior in the vertical channel, the latter requirement usually taking precedence over a need for exceptional competence, as a consequence, there is little horizontal relationship between people even: within the same profession.
Which of the following best states the central thesis of this passage?
选项 A、The value system of Japan is based upon traditional and conservative values which have in modern times, been modified by Western and other liberal values.
B、Students and radicals in Japan have used Leninist ideology to distort the meaning of democratic, Western values.
C、The notions of personal freedom and individual liberty did not find immediate acceptance in Japan because of the predominance of traditional group values.
D、Modern Japanese society is characterized by hierarchical relationships in which a personal tie to a superior is often more important than merit.
答案A
解析 主旨题。A完整地表达了文章的主题。该文章的第一句就总结了主题。日本的价值观念是两方面的影响(传统价值观和现代价值观)形成的，看上去是矛盾的双方。B是错的，它的内容是捡了芝麻丢了西瓜。C和D犯的是同样的错误。D只谈到文章的最后一段；C看上去似乎是对的，因为它的内容只是作者的一个主要观点，但它不是文章的主题。
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